


Love Like Home

by kittymills



Category: Robotech, Robotech The Macross Saga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Marriage Proposal, No attack by Khyron in this AU, Rick POV, Romance, Self-Indulgent, rick and lisa are in love, set sometime after ep33 Rainy Night, some light dyrl feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 09:35:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26969845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymills/pseuds/kittymills
Summary: Rick and Lisa revisit Lisa's past and discover something new.
Relationships: Lisa Hayes/Rick Hunter
Kudos: 14





	Love Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> Some kind of AU where Khyron doesn’t attack the SDF’s (but instead limps his ship out of the solar system never to be seen again) and Rick went on his date with Lisa instead of going to see Minmei.
> 
> Started as a discarded scene from my Rick x Lisa longfic WIP but evolved into this…

* * *

Lisa is waiting for him in the early morning dawn.

Skull One touches down just as streaks of pink and orange stain the horizon and Rick finds himself impatient to hand his VT over to the chief and deplane. He can see her standing by the hangar, too far away to read the expression on her face but he knows without a doubt it’s his Lisa. He would recognize her shape anywhere as acquainted with it as he is now.

It’s been a few months since his revelation and their long talk over cups of the tea Claudia had given Lisa. That night everything had changed between them, the shifting sands of their relationship had solidified and flourished into something strong and bright. Rick was grateful he had finally put aside his feelings for Minmei and in doing so, he had found something infinitely more precious with Lisa.

He jogs across the tarmac, lifting a hand to his face to hold back his hair as the wind from the nearby veritech engines whip at it. The Skull might be done with their patrols but there were plenty more squadrons lifting to the sky to continue their vigilance over the fragile peace the planet had fostered. As he gets closer, he can see Lisa waiting for him with a soft smile on her lips, the one she saves just for him and he can’t help the grin that spreads across his face in response.

“Hi,” he says cheerily as he approaches. She stands with her hands clasped in front of her, at ease despite her uniform. She looks a little tired and he guesses she must already be off duty.

“Hi yourself,” she smiles then leans up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. He relishes the burst of warmth that explodes inside him at the motion as much as he enjoys her small break of officer etiquette. This is Lisa’s softer side, leaking through in the rising glow of the dawn.

She doesn’t ask how his patrol was; she had been monitoring most of it from the command centre.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he says, taking her hand. Together they walk towards the hangar so that he can stash his flight gear. “I’m assuming this isn’t official business?”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s not. Actually, I… I have a favour to ask.”

He stops and turns to her, tugging her closer to him. “You know you can ask me anything. What is it, Lisa?”

She pauses for a moment, a shadow crossing in front of her eyes. Something is bothering her and Rick braces himself for bad news. But then she rallies and seemingly discards her concerns. “Not yet, first let’s get something to eat and some rest. You must be starving.”

The mention of food makes him forget her odd uneasiness a moment earlier. He gives her a rueful smile. “I could eat,” he chuckles. He fights a yawn. “And sleep too.”

She squeezes his hand and they head for home.

* * *

Despite his fatigue, he pulls Lisa into the shower with him and he absently plays with her long hair as the water rains down on his aching muscles. He’s never told her how much he likes her hair out, when it’s freed from its curl and it hangs all the way down her back. He remembers being surprised at its length when they were on Dolza’s ship all those years ago, thinking how much softer it made her features when it was loose.

“I’m sure we’re using more than our fair share of the hot water,” she murmurs against his shoulder.

She’s so warm and sweet pressed against him and as much as Rick has loved exploring her body and all the ways to make her his, it’s these moments of quiet intimacy that really fortified their relationship.

He can’t imagine being like this with anyone else.

He cups her face and tilts it up. Droplets of water sparkle against her dark lashes and the steam makes her cheeks a soft pink. Not for the first time he wonders how he could have been so blind to her elegant beauty for so long then he leans down to lay his lips against hers. He kisses her, soft and sweet and there’s a fleeting thought that he would like to do but he’s bone tired from the long patrol and honestly, he’s not sure if he can summon enough effort to prevent it being a disappointment to both of them. Lisa has been subdued since she met him at the hangar and although he had tried to probe on the ride home but she was tightlipped and troubled. Rick knew from experience that pushing the issue would only cause her to double down on her reticence so they had kept their chatter light and generic.

But whatever distance there was in her mood, there’s none in her kiss now and Rick assures himself that whatever is bothering her must be something to do with the brass higher up than him. She will tell him when he’s ready… or whenever he gets the clearance.

He sweeps a hand over her back fondly as they draw apart. “We’re conserving water,” he tells her, just as she yawns delicately. Rick takes that as his cue to shut off the water and take them both to bed. He has just enough time to hit the shades on the curtains to block out the encroaching daylight before succumbing to sleep the moment his head hits the pillow.

* * *

When he wakes, Lisa isn’t beside him so he pulls on his clothes and pads out to the kitchen with a lingering stretch. He blinks at the darkness outside, surprised to note he had slept the entire day and grateful when Lisa presses a mug of hot coffee into his hands. Usually the sporadic shifts across all hours don’t bother him, but lately he finds himself struggling to bounce back.

Maybe he’s getting old.

He takes a sip of the coffee and hums in appreciation. “Thanks, Lisa. You’re a lifesaver.”

"Hm, you say that a lot."

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

She chuckles lightly and walks by him on her way to the kitchen, lovingly stroking his arm as she passes. He likes how tactile she’s become, all the small touches that mean so much. It’s always been subtle with Lisa, she shows her love in ways that aren’t showy or performative. It continuously made his face flame at how easily he had missed those clues in the beginning.

Then, with his brain firing a bit better after the caffeine hitting his system, he pushes his mug to the side and pulls Lisa into his arms. He nuzzles her hair, breathing in her familiar scent.

“You said you had a favour to ask me,” he says, pulling back to meet her gaze. “I’m all yours. Well, for the next seventy two hours at least.”

She smiles at that and runs her fingers up his arms and over his shoulders to loop them at the back of his neck. Her expression turns thoughtful as she plays with the longer hair at his nape.

“Lisa,” he probes gently after a moment. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“There is something.”

Rick tilts his head. “Are you going to tell me? I think I’ll need more coffee if you want me to guess.”

She wrinkles her nose at him – _adorable!_ he thinks – and then her mood slips into the same guarded pose she’s been in since they left the base. She steps back, out of his reach and he feels her absence keenly. Now he’s concerned.

“Lisa?”

“Something came up in the north east quadrant,” she starts slowly. “I wasn’t really looking for it but sweeps of the area show it was almost untouched from the Zentradi attack.”

“Probably because it’s mostly mountains up there,” Rick offers, wondering what Lisa is trying to get at. “They concentrated their attacks on population centers.”

Lisa nods. “Yes, well I hadn’t expected anything to survive but… There was a property there that my father held, a house in the mountains that was his retreat. According to the aerial imagery, it looks like it might be intact.”

She raises her gaze to him, and even before she’s made her request, he knows what she’s going to ask of him. And he knows his answer will already be yes.

“Rick, I want you to take me there.”

He tugs her close again and presses a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll fly you anywhere you want,” he tells her and meaning it. “But I don’t know if the little flier will be able to make the trip, much less land on a mountain.”

Lisa nods. “Yes, I had considered that. Which is why I’ve arranged for us to take one of the training Veritechs. Turns out that I’m owed a few favours.”

Rick gives her a slow grin. “Why, Captain Hayes, are you requisitioning Earth Forces mecha for personal use? I’m pretty sure that’s a severe breach of protocol.”

She doesn’t respond to his teasing. Instead, she looks… almost nervous. It’s not something he’s seen on her since the night they had tea and she had finally confessed to how he felt about him and he realized he felt the same way.

“Lisa, hey,” he tilts up her chin gently. “I was just teasing. I’ll fly you anywhere, take you anywhere you want to go. You know that. When do you want to leave?”

“Tomorrow,” she tells him softly. “Before I lose my nerve.”

* * *

The training Veritech doesn’t handle like Skull One, but it doesn’t need to. Rick guides it through the sky, aware that Lisa is in the seat behind him and staring out into the distance. She seems far away from him, not in space but in her thoughts. A few times now he’s had to repeat her name more than once to get her attention.

It makes him uneasy.

“Have you ever flown one of these before?” he asks, mostly to make conversation and draw her out of her reverie. He knows she has basic flight training but it’s never occurred to him to ask before about the newer Veritechs.

Her face on the internal screen turns to him. “Not one of these,” she confesses, then she turns back to the vista outside.

“Want to have a go?” he offers, hoping to bring her back to him. It seems to get her attention because she turns back to him, eyes wide.

“Now?”

“Sure,” Rick chuckles. “This is what it’s designed for, and I’ll be right here on the stick if you get into trouble. It’s easy. These things practically fly themselves.”

Lisa’s lips curve into a smile and a teasing light makes its way into her eyes. Rick’s relieved to see it.

“Oh, I remember a certain civilian getting their hands on one of these. Didn’t seem so easy then. In fact, I distinctly recall having to provide them with some instruction with the modes…”

Rick laughs, remembering fondly that first day when he had her barking orders at him from the bridge of the SDF-1. It still made him marvel at how far they had come… as friends, as lovers. They had quite the history.

“Well, see, you already know more than most cadets. And hey, I didn’t do too badly back then. I flew it, right?”

Amusement colours Lisa’ tone. “Oh, is _that_ what you called it?”

“Ouch,” Rick says dryly, but he’s grinning. He’s happy to allow her teasing if it means she’s not staring forlornly out of the canopy anymore.

He runs through the basics with her, explaining the thinking cap and how to clear her mind for flight as though he was lecturing a cadet, expecting her to grouse at him that it’s unnecessary but she listens with half an ear then takes the stick for a while. She’s a smooth flier, calm and steady despite the turmoil he senses brewing inside her. But then – this is Lisa and he doesn’t expect anything else.

Soon they approach the coordinates Lisa handed to him in preflight and he takes back control. Lisa goes quiet as he flies over the roof of what looks to be a sprawling two level house then banks left to search out a place to set down. He’s forced to take another pass before she exclaims “There!” and she directs him to a small clearing just big enough for him to shift into guardian mode and lower the veritech to the surface. It’s a tight squeeze and one wing tip shears off the small branch of a tree and Rick winces inwardly at the telling off he knows he’s going to get from the chief when they get back.

The veritech’s whine dies down and for a moment, there’s silence in the cockpit. “Well,” he says quietly, unable to explain the strange sense of foreboding that’s risen up in his gut. “We’re here. What do you want to do first?”

The cockpit canopy opens and a gush of fresh air rushes through. Rick pulls off his helmet and inhales, startled to catch the rich, earthy scents of dirt and pine that he hasn’t experienced in years. He turns to look over his shoulder and his breath catches.

Lisa has removed her helmet too, cradling it in her lap as she turns her face upwards to the sunlight. Her eyes are closed, and her lips are gently parted. The breeze ruffles her hair and for a long moment, she sits still as she absorbs the greenery around them. A place like this almost makes it possible to believe the war didn’t happen.

“Lisa,” he prods gently. She starts at the sound of her name then blinks. She’s almost dazed as she turns her stare towards him, then her cheeks colour and she looks down.

“I’m sorry, Rick. It’s just… that smell. This air. I never thought I would experience it ever again.”

“It’s really beautiful here,” he agrees as he helps her to deplane. “You said this was your father’s place? Did you grow up here?”

She nods and hoists up one of the duffle bags containing their supplies to her shoulder. They weren’t sure what they would need for this short visit but after spending two weeks in the bowels of the SDF-1 with nothing but emergency rations and a tarp, Rick had gotten into the habit of being prepared for just about anything.

“In a sense,” she says cryptically and moves off through the trees. Rick doesn’t get a chance to probe for more because there’s no path to the house and the forest is thick with vegetation. It feels like they have been walking for hours with Rick constantly having to hustle to keep up with Lisa’s purposeful strides. It seems as though now that they’re so close, Lisa is determined to get to the house as quickly as possible.

Rick tries to squash down the sense of disquiet that keeps building inside him. He only knows the basics of Lisa’s past, that her childhood was lonely, studious, that her father was an admiral with high expectations and her mother had passed away when she was young. Aside from that, she didn’t talk much about it, but Rick didn’t hold it against her. He didn’t talk much about his past either, but that was more to shy away from the guilt that he never got to say goodbye to his parents and the sadness that would threatened to overwhelm him when he thought about how they died. Both he and Lisa had seemed to come to an unspoken agreement to leave the past in the past… Until now.

They continue through the trees until the woods open up to reveal a rustic, ramshackle home that might have been proud and beautiful in its prime. It’s not now. There are white timbers peeling with age and window frames that hang miserably in sagging spaces and a wide, wrap around verandah that had clearly seen better days. Even from here he could see the broken steps leading up from the overgrown lawn and garden beds, cracked window planes and gaps in the roof. Rick gathered that this home must have been a beauty back before the war, when Lisa had belonged here, but now it was sad and neglected and not for the first time he wonders why Lisa wanted to see this, why she wanted to come back here and torture herself with memories of a time well before Dolza’s rain of death.

Lisa, for her part, pauses just at the edge of the tree line and stares at the house. She’s so still, her face so unreadable, Rick isn’t sure how to proceed. It’s as though Lisa isn’t really with him, maybe lost in the memories in her mind as she stares at the house. He feels a twinge of sadness that he can’t be there with her, that this is something he really has no part of despite the last few years of being so ingrained in each other’s lives. It’s a little like going back in time, when she was the unreachable, untouchable first officer and his intimidating superior.

He shifts the duffle bag on his shoulder and the movement seems to jolt Lisa out of her introspection. She casts him an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, it’s just…. unexpected… to see it like this.”

Rick follows her gaze. “I’ll wager it didn’t look like this growing up, huh?”

“No,” she smiles sadly. “It didn’t. It was beautiful once upon a time. I guess I didn’t expect it to fall into disrepair so quickly.”

“We might as well go inside, see what’s left of it,” he suggests then catches sight of her expression. “Uh, that is, if you want to?”

“Well, we certainly didn’t come all this way just to stand here staring at it,” she informs him briskly. “Let’s go.”

Without waiting, she crosses the overgrown lawn and lays her duffle bag at the bottom of the stairs. He follows her, mimics her action with the bags then trails her carefully up the worn steps to the verandah.

“Maybe I should go first,” he grabs her arm before she can push the door open. “The floorboards might be rotted, or-“

“I’m fine, Rick. I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ll be careful.”

She pushes past him and tries the doorknob. Rick had expected it to be locked, but the door swings open with barely a touch and Lisa doesn’t hesitate to walk inside. He hurries after her, determined to stay close but in the entry, Lisa pauses and looks around.

It’s some kind of grand foyer, although it looks as though it’s been stripped for furnishings and gutted for supplies. Dust filters through the air, caught in a ray of sunlight that streams through the smashed out windows at the top of the rickety staircase. The home is deceptively large and Rick looks around curiously, wondering how many bedrooms the place had and just how wealthy Lisa’s family must have been that this was dismissed as a holiday house. 

“Looks like squatters might have been here,” he says quietly as Lisa scans the space. He can’t read her gaze and that causes his uneasiness to flare brightly in his gut once again. He can’t tell what Lisa is thinking, what’s going through her mind right now, and he’s starting to wonder if he should really be here at all.

Lisa deigns to answer him, but he lets it go once she turns and walks to the railing, a far off look in her eyes. She’s remembering things he’s not privy to, and he resigns himself to standing in the corner and waiting until she’s ready to talk.

After a moment, she turns to him. “Let me show you around.”

* * *

Rick trails after Lisa silently as she explores the lower level of house. She goes from room to room, searching for glimmers of her past, but there’s little to be found. The building had mostly been gutted and there’s not much left behind but piles of broken furniture and ruined surfaces and in the end, it’s a wide room with a fire place on one side and a view out to the trees that becomes their final stop. Another mostly empty room, save for a solid, beautifully carved desk that takes pride of place in the centre and a few dusty animal heads dangling despondently on the papered walls. 

“It must have been too heavy for them to move,” Lisa says, trailing a finger over the smooth surface of the desk. It’s covered in dust and her finger leaves a glossy trail. “Father always loved this desk. He had it commissioned before I was born.”

“It’s a shame this is all that’s left. I’m sorry, Lisa. I can’t imagine this would be easy for you.”

She turns and leans against the desk. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? But I maybe it’s… maybe it’s the war, and everything we’ve seen. But I feel I don’t feel much of anything at all. Not like I should. It all feels a little bit like it happened to someone else. The girl that stood here trying to please her father, that ran through these halls… I don’t feel like it was me.”

“We’ve all gone through a lot. War changes us. _Survival_ changes us.”

“But at the core of it all, are we still the same? Sometimes I think about my childhood, my father and I-“ she cuts herself off and Rick sees the tightness around her mouth that always seems to seep through when Admiral Hayes is mentioned. Rick had never had the opportunity to meet him, but he knows that Lisa’s father had been a staunch supporter of the grand cannon and fatally cynical with the notion of peace with the Zentradi. She exhales and gives her head a slight toss, as though trying to shake off old hurts.

Rick isn’t sure what to say but he senses she’s not really expecting him to answer. She raises her head and stares out the wide windows, surprisingly intact. He knows before she even speaks that she’s slipped into a memory.

“Riber proposed to me in this room,” she tells him softly. “I was seventeen years old.”

It’s enough to make his heart skip a beat. He’s never liked thinking about Lisa’s dead fiancé, and he likes it even less standing here in this room where he’s sure he can feel Riber’s ghost standing over him.

“You know, I never understood… Your father was an admiral, but you told me once Riber was a pacifist. I can’t imagine your father was keen on that match.”

Lisa folds her arms over her chest and Rick finds himself regretting ever bringing it up. It’s a wound rubbed raw and being in this old house full of the specters of Lisa’s past feels like the scab has been pulled off and they’re both bleeding.

“Riber was… special,” Lisa remembers. “He had a way of talking his way into anywhere he needed to be, of making you believe in impossible dreams. He was charming, and smart… He charmed my father enough that my father didn’t object to me seeing him. We kept our engagement a secret, and I was planning to complete my training and follow him to Mars base. But…” Lisa trails off, fallen into another memory.

Rick is flooded with disquiet. It shames him that a part of him is jealous hearing her talk about her dead fiancé like this, seething on the inside of him and for a moment he’s almost angry that she’s brought him here. Was it some kind of ploy for payback for his dithering with Minmei or was he going to have to spend his days competing with a ghost? Because suddenly, listening to Lisa talk about Riber makes him feel lesser, and undeserving.

“You must have loved him a lot,” Rick says eventually, hating himself for saying the words but not knowing what else to say.

Lisa turns to him, regarding him silently for a long moment. For an instant, Rick feels scrutinized, wondering wildly inside himself if Lisa is somehow comparing him to her dead fiancé, if she’s standing here in this room wishing he was Riber. The thought tears at his insides and makes his heartrate spike unhappily. He’s never been good with jealousy and it’s something he’s had to work hard to overcome. He reminds himself that Lisa loves him, that she fought for him even when he wasn’t worth fighting for.

He wonders now if Lisa might be regretting that.

“I didn’t know what love was,” Lisa tells him honestly. She gazes at him steadily, a coolness in her poise that somehow makes him feel like there is a noose around his neck and he doesn’t understand why. “But I thought I loved Riber with everything I had.”

She shakes her head and laughs a little. “I thought I knew what it was to love someone before, but I was wrong. It’s nothing compared to what I feel for you, Rick.”

His stomach flips. His heartrate is wild in his ears and for a second he wonders if perhaps he’s misheard. He stands there dazed and she straightens up - his lovely Lisa - and crosses the small space between them. She takes his hand and places it on her chest, right above her heart.

Her voice cracks with emotion. “I love you, Rick.”

Dampness pricks at his eyes and relief washes through him. He pulls her close, their hands clasped together between them and his face nestled against her neck. He’s surprised at the exhale of relief that escapes him. “Lisa. I thought… I mean, I-“

She lifts her head and he’s surprised to see tears staining the corner of her eyes. It galvanizes him into action. “Hey, hey, now,” he says softly, raising a hand to thumb away the shimmer on her cheek. He feels teary himself and he has to blink to force the wetness away. “I love you too, Lisa. I love you so much it drives me crazy.” He rests his forehead against hers in an effort to mask his sudden nerves. “I thought what I felt for Minmei was love and I guess it was, but it’s nothing… _nothing_ compared to how I feel about you.”

He can feel her smile and a rush of warmth fills him. “To be honest,” he whispers conspiratorially. “It’s kind of terrifying.”

That makes her laugh softly and the sound of it immediately sends his disquiet skittering away. He draws back, searching out her gaze. Sometimes all the things he feels for this woman is so overwhelming that it catches him by surprise. Just when he thinks he can’t worship her any more, she surprises him and he falls harder.

A little bit like now.

He strokes her cheek with his knuckle gently then guides their mouths together in a kiss that’s soft and sweet and reaffirming. He’s part way relieved that Lisa seems to have shaken off her strange mood from earlier, part way happy to understand the reason for it. He stands there in a room that holds so much history for her and vows privately to be the only one she can think about.

And when she pulls back from their kiss in a daze, he’s sure he’s managed it.

* * *

There’s some debate over whether they should camp closer to the veritech or shelter within the house and in the end they settle on somewhere in the middle. Rick erects the tent on what would have once been a lawn while Lisa gathers kindling for a small campfire. They work together in a quiet harmony; each doing their portion then coming together once their work is complete. It’s a lot like their life back at the base and it’s comfortable and companionable and one of the things Rick has always enjoyed about their relationship even back in the days where he thought he was so wrapped up in Minmei.

The sun is nearing the horizon once their camp is complete and Rick steps out of the tent to see the warm glow of the fire reflecting on Lisa’s face.

“You know, you could have used the kit for that,” he tells her, gesturing to the compact camping supplies they had brought along with them. The smell of smoke should feel triggering but there’s no chemical burn to this scent, just the pure woodsy smoke from natural timber.

“I prefer to do it the old fashioned way,” she replies. She places another piece of wood to the fire then stands up and dusts her hands off. She nods in satisfaction as the flames climb. “I was a nature scout, after all.”

“No kidding,” he chuckles. “So was I.”

She gives him a skeptical look that has him indignant until he realizes she’s teasing him. Instead he gathers her up in his arms and rocks with her pressed against him in some kind of fumbling slow dance. Something has shifted between them since their small talk in the study of the old house, something he can’t quite put his finger on but that he’s treasuring all the same. It’s like this visit to Lisa’s past had brought them closer together and a part of him wonders if maybe a visit to his past might do the same.

Maybe it was time to face old ghosts and put them to rest.

They sit beside the campfire as the day slips into night, Lisa tucked against his side as he dangles a large stick over the flame. How Lisa had managed to procure marshmallows in this day and age, Rick doesn’t question. He feeds her the sticky, sweet concoction with his fingers and then kisses her until he feels drunk. Overhead, the stars sparkle with a brilliance he hasn’t seen since their days on the SDF-1 and it even makes him a little homesick for space.

Later he lays out their bedrolls and tries not to fumble when Lisa tugs hers closer to his and reaches for him in the dark. The sounds of the forest are loud around them and the fire dies down to embers but Rick doesn’t notice anything but the supple shape of Lisa’s curves under his hands. She sighs at his touch and leans into him, whispering his name as she buries her hands in his hair and draws blunt fingernails down his back. His heart beats painfully bright inside his chest and he tugs one lean thigh against his hip as he loves her in the starlight.

 _“Lisa,”_ he gasps into the warm skin of her neck. Sometimes it’s too much, all the love he has for her drowns him and he’s helpless to prevent the wave that carries them both away.

“You’re everything to me,” he says quietly into the dark when she’s tucked at his side and sated. “I hope you know that.”

She shifts lightly, raising her head. He catches the glow of her eyes as she. “I do,” she answers softly.

He wraps her against him and spares a thought for the ghosts lurking in the building nearby.

_I love her. I love her so much._

* * *

The dawn is crisp when they wake and Rick shivers in the cool mountain air. He glances around, noticing that Lisa is no longer beside him.

“Lisa?” he calls out but there’s no response. He gets up, pulling on a jacket and his boots then plodding through the dawn to the side of the house. He finds her there, perched on a log, a mug of coffee in hand and staring at the house.

He approaches her slowly but she hears him and casts him a glance over her shoulder. “I didn’t sleep well,” she offers before he has a chance to ask. “Too many ghosts, I think.”

He takes a seat beside her and shivers involuntarily. He thinks of the odd sensation he had in the study and thinks she might be right. He curls his arm around her and draws her close to him, knowing they’re stronger as one than alone.

“Do you still want to go up to the upper level today?”

She considers his question. “I’m not sure. That window there was my bedroom,” she nods to the upper left corner where the gable is sagging. “But there wouldn’t be anything in there. It’s strange, I have no photos albums, no trinkets, nothing from when I was a child.”

Rick finds himself surprised by that but in hindsight, he doesn’t remember seeing anything around Lisa’s quarters. Not even a photo of her parents. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. But… Well, I’m not sure my life even really started until the day we left Earth.”

Rick reflects on that. He often feels much the same. That day had changed all their lives.

“So what do you want to do?”

She offers him a sip of her coffee and he gratefully accepts. “I was thinking we need to do this more often. Camp, I mean.”

She smiles at him warmly and a memory of the night before passes between them, unspoken and precious. He smiles back.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

* * *

They spend another night at their little campsite by the house but they avoid the timber walls. Lisa takes Rick to the creek she fished in as a child and she’s delighted when he catches something. They splash barefoot on the bank and he mock threatens to throw her in, except Lisa, never one to who likes to lose, sneaks up behind him and dunks him. Her peals of laughter seem to echo off the trees and Rick finds himself so mesmerized by the sound he can’t even be mad when he has to sit in his underwear for an hour to dry off because their spare clothes are back at the veritech. Especially not when she takes off her shirt and lays beside him in the sunlight in nothing but her bra.

“Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to go back at all,” she confesses later. The night has turned cool and she has one of their blankets wrapped around her shoulders, her face tilted to the stars. The moon winks down at them, hovering in the sky and casting silvery shadows. “We could stay here and rebuild the house, forget the war even happened.”

Rick hums as he pushes another log into the fire. He’s going to miss this interlude but he understands Lisa well enough to know that she wouldn’t ever give away her work. And he wouldn’t either, not with so much left to do.

But it was nice to think about occasionally so he joins her in the fantasy.

“We could fix it up, get some animals. Maybe a cow and some chickens.”

She offers him a small smile. “Would you build me a little herb garden? And plant some lemon trees?”

He pretends to consider it. “I might. Or maybe I’ll just keep you barefoot and pregnant,” he teases but the joke falls flat.

Lisa turns away, her face hidden and Rick pokes again at the fire. There’s something that’s been playing at the edges of his mind for a while now, but it’s just now been pushed to the forefront of his thoughts.

Whatever it looks like, he wants a _future_ with Lisa. He’s not sure when surviving stopped being enough.

He gets up and leaves the fire’s circle of warmth to join Lisa under the stars. She offers some of the blanket and he drapes it over his shoulder and holds her tight.

“I’m with you, where ever or whatever you want to do, Lisa. I mean that.”

She lays her head against his shoulder. “Even to the stars?”

He kisses her temple and wishes he could wipe away the tinge of sorrow in her voice. “Anywhere.”

She hums and presses closer. “Tomorrow we’ll go back and it will all be like it was before.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

She lifts her head and he catches a flash of her confusion. “What do you mean?”

His throat is suddenly dry and he swallows thickly. His heart beats a terrifying tempo in his chest even though he’s confident he knows what her answer will be. He turns and takes her hands.

“I love you, Lisa. There’s no one else I need like you, no one else I love like you. You’re the bright spot in all my days. Marry me, Lisa. Please.”

Lisa’s eyes shimmer and she cups his face gently. He gets the sense she’s trying to see inside his soul. He wishes she could, so she could see how much he adores her.

“Rick Hunter, are you really asking me to marry you?”

He gives her a small grin and half wishes he’d planned a better proposal. “Well, I don’t have a ring yet, but yes, I am indeed, ma’am. So what do you say? Will you make me the happiest man alive?”

She deliberates just long enough to make him sweat, then throws her arms around him and kisses him hard. “Yes, Rick, yes!”

He picks her up and spins her around and her laugh is carried away on the breeze.

* * *

They keep their engagement quiet just long enough for Rick to slip a sparkly ring on her finger that costs more than a month’s wage, but it really comes as no surprise to anyone. Rick continues to fly with the Skull and Lisa continues her command duties from the SDF-2 but occasionally, they steal away to the forest and camp in the shadows of the old house.

“I feel bad about letting it rot,” Rick confesses on one of their visits. “I feel like we should be doing more to preserve it.”

Lisa barely spares the house a glance. “It’s served its purpose,” she shrugs, preparing a pot of tea by the fire.

Rick eyes the sparkle of the ring on her finger and glances towards the house. The ghosts have moved on now and all that’s left is them.

“Yeah,” he muses. “I suppose it has.”

* * *


End file.
